The wife of an American pastor imprisoned in Iran pleaded with a House subcommittee on foreign affairs Thursday to do something to free her husband .

Naghmeh Abedini said that her husband , Saeed Abedini , went to Iran to build an orphanage but was imprisoned unjustly because of his Christian beliefs .

She said that when her family 's `` nightmare '' began , she anticipated having to fight the Iranian government . But she feels shocked and deeply disappointed because she 's had `` to battle my own government . ''

U.S. President Barack Obama pushed for the release of Abedini and two other detained Americans -- Robert Levinson and Amir Hekmati -- when he spoke on the phone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in September .

Saeed Abedini is a U.S. citizen of Iranian birth . In January , he was sentenced to eight years in prison , accused of attempting to undermine the Iranian government and endangering national security by establishing home churches .

He had converted to Christianity from Islam and became a pastor in Idaho . He regularly made trips to Iran and was on a bus crossing from Turkey into Iran in the summer of 2012 when immigration officials took away his passport . He was later jailed . At the time of his detainment , an Iranian news agency reported that he would be released on bail .

Abedini 's case was not brought up at recent negotiations on an interim nuclear deal with Iran .

In late November , National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden was asked why . She replied that the talks in Geneva , Switzerland , concerning the deal were `` focused exclusively on nuclear issues . ''

Naghmeh Abedini told lawmakers Thursday that when U.S. and Iranian officials met to discuss the nuclear deal , the U.S. had a `` perfect '' opportunity to ask for the pastor 's release . `` I feel my husband has been abandoned , '' she said .

Iran 's detention and torture of her 33-year-old husband constitutes an assault against U.S. national security , she said . The detention is `` an experiment '' because officials there are `` curious '' to see how strong Obama is , and whether he would take action immediately to free the pastor .

She held up a photo of herself and her two young children taken on their first day of school this year . She said that it was a heartbreaking moment to be without her husband and that as Christmas approaches , she is praying for her husband and praying that her government realizes `` how far we 've fallen '' with negotiating with Iran without pushing more to secure her husband 's freedom .

U.S. official : Obama , Rouhani discussed fate of three Americans

` Religious persecution is real '

In a written statement she gave to the subcommittee , she detailed her husband 's ordeal . Her family says he is in a very dangerous prison because of his Christian faith .

His wife said that the orphanage he was in Iran to set up had the approval of the Iranian government . Between 2000 and 2005 , her husband had previously gotten into trouble with Iran 's government because he was talking about his Christian faith with Iranian Christians in their homes , she said . At that time , Iran was ruled under a different government .

It did n't make sense to her , and she finds it outrageous , that her husband would be held now for offenses related to religion .

`` I am standing before you today because religious persecution is real , '' Naghmeh Abedini 's statement read . `` And until we stand up as one -- as Americans , as political leaders , and government officials , as people who have been endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights -- we will not truly embrace the responsibility that comes with that freedom . ''

Her father , who is still in Iran , has been able to visit the pastor , it says . That has allowed her to learn about how her husband had been treated and injuries he 's suffered .

Before Thursday 's hearing , she warned that her husband 's health was deteriorating , and she talked Thursday about how he had been beaten and threatened in prison .

In her statement , she explained that he was initially held in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran , where guards and interrogators beat him .

On November 3 , the pastor was transferred to Rajai Shahr prison , the statement said , where he has been repeatedly robbed at knifepoint .

`` At times he has awoken to find a knife-wielding prisoner standing over him at his bed . ''

Her husband has been beaten so badly that he could not stand , she said , and suffered internal bleeding . Nothing but the `` hand of God '' kept him alive , she said . `` The Iranian regime sends prisoners to Rajai Shahr to disappear . It sends prisoners to Rajai Shahr to deny them their human rights . It sends prisoners to Rajai Shahr to die . ''

A few months ago , the pastor was given medication and his condition improved , she wrote .

A letter to the children

Naghmeh Abedini said her father showed her husband pictures of the couple 's two children when he visited him in prison .

`` Saeed would just stare at the pictures the entire time for the few short minutes they were able to talk , '' her statement says .

Once , her husband was able to compose a letter to his children .

`` It is so hard and so heart breaking for me to see these pictures and to know that I am not there beside you as you grow , '' he wrote . `` I came here to help the kids that did not have mommies and daddies , but my own kids lost their daddy . ''

On the eve of her testimony , the pastor 's wife spoke to CNN 's Jim Sciutto about the pain her family has endured .

`` I think it 's the worst torture to see your kids suffering and not being able to do anything , '' she said .

`` My hope is -- I know it might be too much , hoping too much -- is having him home by Christmas . ... it will be a very difficult Christmas scene ... '' she said . '' ... it 's not just for my husband , it 's for my kids . Hopefully we will have daddy home for Christmas . ''

There are two other Americans who have disappeared in Iran or have been imprisoned .

Bob Levinson , a retired FBI agent , has been kept in the dark about him since he vanished on a business trip to Iran in March 2007 .

President Rouhani has told CNN 's Christiane Amanpour that the nation 's officials do n't know where the American is .

Levinson is in his 60s and suffers from diabetes .

Another American , Amir Hekmati , is a former U.S. Marine . He has been jailed in Iran since 2011 , accused of being a CIA spy . Hekmati joined the Marines in 2001 out of high school . He finished his service four years later as a decorated combat veteran with tours in Iraq .

Other detained Americans

@highlight

Naghmeh Abedini says she felt she 's had to fight Iran , and also her own government

@highlight

Her husband 's case was not brought up during recent nuclear deal talks with Iran

@highlight

She said her husband has been tortured in prison and has been imprisoned for his faith